any good ideas on how to counter this:

[pcmacdaniel]

I haven't personally faced a quality opponent using this formation. Since I haven't seen a post yet, I'll post what i'd try. Hopefully someone else can come along with some quantitative data to better assist you.

He's almost certainly using an offensive mentality, so I'd use a defense setup. Probably 4-1-3n-2. Hard defending (defensive)/through the middle/own half/hard/long/zonal/force counters on/no offsides. Red arrows on DL, DR, DMC and 2 MC's. Blue arrows on one MC.

2 or more strikers is a must since he's only got 1 DC, so he'll be vulnerable to a multiple striker setup

Good luck!!!